With so many people working from home, making sure that home networks are stable is more vital than ever. Your network is the means by which your devices communicate with each other and the wider internet. If it is hindered in any way, whether from hackers or even physical problems within your house, you won’t be able to perform many of the tasks that are required of you for work. You’ll feel the negative effects on your off-hours internet use as well. Find out how to make sure your home network is safe by reading about these actions you can take to prevent and address network issues.
Change the Wi-Fi Network Name
For greater cybersecurity, you can start by changing the name of your network from the default one that it came with. The purpose of doing this is to send out as little information to other people as possible. Naming your wi-fi signal something that you will recognize but that has no value to a random stranger is thus ideal. You don’t want your network name to state the type of router you have or contain your real name in any way. This way, it will be more difficult for a person to mess with your network or attempt a crime like identity theft.
Update Your Network
Updating your router’s software is an additional step to take as you learn how to make sure your home network is safe. There are always small weaknesses in the software that hackers can use to wreak havoc on your network. As you continue to use the same software version, those vulnerabilities become easier for people to manipulate since they have more time to study the software. By updating your router every time its developers release a new version, you cover up those old cracks in your network’s armor. There are often auto-update features you can turn on as well so that you don’t need to constantly keep tabs on the software.
Inspect the Physical Setup
Sometimes, your network may cease to function because of a physical problem. For Wi-Fi, the positioning of the router could be the root of your issues. Preferably, you should place your router in a central location in your home so that its signals are less likely to be disrupted by furniture, walls, and appliances. This will also mean that its signals won’t reach too far outside your home where criminals may attack it. Even if you use ethernet to minimize hacking risks, you still need to make sure those network cables you use are arranged safely. For instance, you should know how to run ethernet and power cables correctly in your home. If you place them too close to one another, voltages may transfer between them and cause a fire or data loss.
